Don Belding

Published on March 29, 1999.

Don Belding(1897-1969)Foote, Cone & Belding, Los Angeles

Belding, the "Father of West Coast Advertising," served entrepreneurs such as Walt Disney, Howard Hughes and Patrick Frawley; helped emerging Hollywood studios; and built the Sunkist, Max Factor and Catalina swimsuit businesses. A poor boy from Oregon, Belding served without pay in Lord & Thomas' Los Angeles mailroom in 1923. By 1938, he was office manager. Belding became a partner in Foote, Cone & Belding, L&T's successor agency, in 1942. A founder of the Freedoms Foundation, Belding was an active force on numerous ad industry and public service councils. The Belding Awards, named in his honor, annually recognize the best creative work to come out of the West.